


Let It Burn

by Willow_Angel



Series: Cherik Playlist [2]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Adele - Freeform, Charles is emotional, Cherik Playlist, Erik Has Feelings, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'm not always a monster Lady, Kinda, M/M, Set Fire to the Rain, Songfic, canonverse, despite the angsty song, please, sorta canon compliant, this is actually fluffy, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willow_Angel/pseuds/Willow_Angel
Summary: Charles had always felt… alone.Some would call that absurd, especially after Raven came to live with him. Raven quickly became his best friend, and then his sister. Being that close to another person – another mutant, even – would lead most to believe that he was always happy as a child, and that he grew up with no troubles. But he’d always felt that he was alone.Title and inspiration from "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele.





	Let It Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Would you believe that I started this the day after the last one, and completely forgot about it? Welp. Here it is, finally.
> 
> There are soooooo many songs in the Cherik playlist. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this without repeating myself too many times. Hmm. Ah well.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> Title, inspiration and opening/closing italics are from "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele.

_I let it fall, my heart,_  
And as it fell you rose to claim it  
  


 

Charles had always felt… alone.

Some would call that absurd, especially after Raven came to live with him. Raven quickly became his best friend, and then his sister. Being that close to another person – another mutant, even – would lead most to believe that he was always happy as a child, and that he grew up with no troubles. But he’d always felt that he was alone.

Maybe it was his mutation. Maybe it was the telepathy that he couldn’t control – he was always hearing so many thoughts that weren’t his, and feeling so many foreign feelings that in the end he couldn’t discern which thoughts and feelings were his and which ones belonged to strangers he passed in the streets, in the school corridors. Or maybe he had already been neglected by his mother and stepfather for too long, that there was a hole they had left that could never be filled, that was slowly consuming him. Or perhaps his stepbrother had beaten that hole into him at a young age.

He had always gotten along with people easily, as they seemed to like him quickly enough. Some would say that he was friends with everyone. Others would say that he had no friends. That was the case, until he met another man, another mutant that was so different from everyone else that it was both astounding and confusing: Erik Lehnsherr.

Erik was such a tortured soul. He was so full of anger and pain and anguish that Charles was completely overwhelmed when they first met, Charles dragging him to the surface of the freezing ocean. Erik wasn’t nice to him. In fact, he wasn’t nice to anybody. But when Charles had always managed to get on the good side of other people quickly, it took more time with Erik.

Erik’s mind was shielded, meaning that most of the time his thoughts and feelings were unknown to Charles. But despite this, it was with Erik that he didn’t feel so alone. As they began to learn more about each other over chess games and drinks, Erik slowly began filling a hole within Charles. That hole that somebody had left without ever bothering to fix. And so, Charles slowly, hesitantly, began to give pieces of his heart over to Erik.  He gave Erik the pieces of himself that he had never dared give anyone, not even Raven.

As Charles let those pieces fall, Erik collected them.

 

“Is something on your mind, Charles?” Erik asked as he picked up Charles’s white bishop and replacing it with his black rook, placing the captured piece to the side.

Charles was brought back to reality with a bump. He blinked at the chessboard, noticing that his wrong move could cost him the game. He huffed. “I’m sorry, my friend,” he said. “I was lost in thought.”

“I noticed.” Erik raised an eyebrow at him. “What were you thinking about?”

Charles hesitated. “Not many people have asked me that,” he admitted softly.

“Then allow me to be one of the few,” Erik replied, leaning back in his chair.

Charles swirled his drink around, watching the amber liquid slosh up against the glass. He thought carefully about his response. “I was thinking about how far we’ve come,” he answered after a moment of silence. “I’m not just a genetics professor anymore, and you’re not just the man I pulled out of the ocean.” He found himself unable to look up at Erik as he spoke. “So much has changed in such a short amount of time. It’s incredible, really.”

“You really think so?”

The question startled Charles into looking up. Erik was looking at him with something in his eyes he couldn’t quite read, and not for the first time Charles wished he could explore all of what Erik’s beautiful mind had to offer. Charles nodded. “Yes, I do,” he said. “I love watching people grow into better people, stronger and kinder versions of themselves. I love seeing them shed that layer of uncertainty, and allow themselves to explore themselves, and their potential.” He smiled. “It’s why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. I want to help and guide people through that, especially children.” Charles stopped as he realised that Erik’s eyes had softened, and that a corner of his mouth had turned up into an almost-smile. Charles blushed, and looked down into his drink again. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I got ahead of myself. I guess I’m not really a teacher yet, am I?”

“You are.” Erik said the words so strongly and with such a sense of finality that Charles’s grip tightened on his glass. He looked up to see Erik’s eyes firm again, it was different from other times. He wasn’t hiding anything this time – in fact, he was showing more emotion through those eyes than he ever had before. “What do you think you’ve been doing all this time? Helping us, _teaching_ us how to control and use our powers? You said it yourself, look how far we’ve all come. If you can do this in such a small amount of time, imagine what you could do in a year in a school.”

Charles couldn’t stop his smile growing wider. He rested his chin in his hand and let himself stare at Erik, leaning on the arm of his chair. After a brief but comfortable silence, he said, “Thank you, Erik. That means a lot to me.” _You mean a lot to me_ , he added onto the end, not saying it out loud.

“You’re a good man, Charles.” Charles blushed again. “The world needs more people like you.”

It was strange to hear Erik saying these things. Normally he’d be arguing with Charles, saying that he was naïve and had too much faith in humanity, but something had changed. Curious, Charles let his mind brush against Erik’s, only just there, thanking him. Erik’s mind responded warmly, like it was embracing him. Both of their minds seemed to melt together.

Charles’s eyes widened and he sucked in a sharp breath as he realised that he had never felt such a strong sense of _Home_ before now. He both saw and felt Erik’s brief surprise before his resolve hardened.

“Charles,” he said. His voice was gentle, but there was a mental force behind it that Charles wasn’t sure what to make of. “Charles, you’re not alone.”

Charles wasn’t aware that he’d started crying until Erik was kneeling on the floor in front of him, wiping tears away and cradling his face in his scarred hands.

“Thank you, Erik,” Charles whispered, leaning into his hands. Erik responded by moving forward and capturing his lips in a kiss that Charles was more than willing to return.

It wasn’t like he thought it would be. It was warm, like sitting in front of the fire, with the rain pattering on the windows. Kissing Erik, Charles decided, felt like coming home.

 

_It was dark and I was over  
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me_

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated ^~^


End file.
